JP2004121569A - Walking support device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to assist walking by assisting a user in rising.
A walking support device includes a base plate, a substantially U-shaped supporter having a built-in force sensor, lifting means capable of changing the vertical position of the supporter, and power of drive motors. Has driven wheels 5a and 5b transmitted through transmission belts 6a and 6b, and driven wheels 8a and 8b. When the user 2 walks while holding the supporter inside the supporter, the user 2 adjusts the height of the supporter by the elevating means. The arm 10 is attached to the expansion / contraction means 11 attached to the base plate, and the knee pad 9 having a built-in force sensor is attached to the tip of the arm. When standing up, the user places both knees on the knee rest. The arm length is changed using a telescopic means so that the user's knee hits the knee pad. The arm is turned in the traveling direction so that the arm does not hinder walking when walking.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a walking support device that supports a user's walking.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Patent Literature 1 describes an example of a device that supports physical activity of an elderly person or a disabled person whose physical function such as muscular strength has decreased. The posture conversion device described in this publication supports a patient's knee with a knee pad and a patient's chest with a chest pad in order to assist a patient who cannot easily stand up by himself. As a result, the patient is raised in the forward leaning posture. At that time, the patient's chest is pressed against the chest pad using a support member for supporting the upper body and the buttocks or a side pad with a belt.
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-570 (pages 4 to 11, FIG. 1)
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Even if the patient has enough muscular strength to be able to maintain his or her standing posture, the burden on his / her feet is great when standing up from a state of sitting on a chair or the like. Therefore, it has been proposed in Patent Document 1 and the like that another person or the like supports the patient's knee to facilitate standing up. However, in Patent Document 1, since the patient's body is supported using the support member and the side pad with a belt, there is a problem that the patient cannot move freely. In addition, since the knee pad is always located in front of the patient's foot, the knee pad hinders walking, and it is difficult for a patient who stands up to walk immediately.
[0004]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the elderly and disabled people whose physical functions such as muscular strength are reduced, and to enable the walking support device to support rising from a sitting state and walking after the rising. is there.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A feature of the present invention that achieves the above object is that in a walking assistance device having support means for supporting a user's body and moving means for assisting the user's walking, a braking device for braking the moving means, and a knee pad are provided. Arm, a telescopic means for varying the length of the arm, a turning means for turning the arm, and a control means for controlling the telescopic means and the turning means.
[0006]
In this feature, the arm has force detecting means for detecting a force acting on the user's knee from the knee, and the control means controls the position of the arm according to the magnitude of the force detected by the force detecting means. It is desirable to have an operating means for changing the length and the turning angle of the arm. Further, it is desirable that the control device, based on a command from the operating means, position the arm at the retreat position while the user is walking, and move the knee pad to a position where the user sits when the user stands up. The knee pad is preferably cylindrical.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a walking support device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of the walking support device, and FIG. 2 is a top view thereof. The walking support device 1 is a device that supports the walking of the user 2 whose physical function such as muscular strength has decreased. A stay 4 a, which will be described in detail later, is attached to the upper surface of the base plate 16 via the elevating means 4. On the lower surface of the base plate 16, a pair of drive wheels 5a and 5b are mounted on the user 2 side, and a pair of driven wheels 8a and 8b are mounted on the non-user 2 side. A supporter 3 having a built-in force sensor is attached near the upper end of the stay 4a.
[0008]
As shown in FIG. 2, the supporter 3 has a substantially U shape. The user 2 walks while holding the supporter 3 inside the U-shape. The height of the supporter 3 is changed according to the walking posture of the user 2. The elevation means 4 is used for changing the height. The left and right drive wheels 5a, 5b are connected to drive motors 7a, 7b via transmission belts 6a, 6b, respectively. The driven wheels 8a and 8b are attached to the base plate 16 so that the traveling direction is rotatable.
[0009]
A linear motion actuator using a ball screw is used as the elevating means 4. The height of the supporter 3 connected to the linear actuator is changed by controlling the rotation of the ball screw of the ball screw. The rotation of the ball screw is stopped, and the height of the supporter 3 is fixed.
[0010]
A cylindrical knee pad 9 having a built-in force sensor is attached to the arm 10. The user 2 applies both knees to the knee pad 9 when standing up. The knee pad 9 is preferably made of a flexible material. The length of the arm 10 is changed by using the telescopic means 11 so that the knee pad 9 hits the knee of the user 2. Further, the arm 10 is turned using the turning means 12, and the knee pad 9 is positioned on the knee of the user 2. A linear actuator having a ball screw is used for the expansion / contraction means 11. The length of the arm 10 connected to the linear actuator is changed by controlling the rotation of the ball screw of the ball screw. By stopping the rotation of the ball screw, the length of the arm 10 can be fixed.
[0011]
For the turning means 12, a rotary motor with a brake is used. The rotation of the arm 10 is changed by controlling the rotation of the motor. Release the brake when rotating the motor. When the motor is stopped, the brake is operated to fix the position of the arm 10 in the turning direction. As described above, by using the telescopic means 11 and the turning means 12, the force applied from the user 2 to the knee pad 9 can be reliably supported at the position where the arm 10 is set.
[0012]
FIG. 2 shows a top view of the walking support device of the embodiment shown in FIG. Brakes 13a, 13b for braking the drive wheels 5a, 5b are attached to the drive motors 7a, 7b. Rotation sensors 14a and 14b for detecting rotation of the drive motors 7a and 7b are attached to shaft ends of the drive motors 7a and 7b. The controller 15 performs measurement using each force sensor and controls the lifting / lowering means 4 and the drive motors 7a and 7b. Further, the arm 10 is controlled using the expansion / contraction means 11 and the turning means 12.
[0013]
FIG. 3 shows details of the operation means 20 included in the walking support device shown in FIG. The operation unit 20 is connected to the controller 15 of the main body of the walking support device by wire or wirelessly. The user 2 selects an operation using the operation button 21. The operation means 20 includes a supporter operation button 22 for operating the position of the supporter 3 and an arm operation button 23 for operating the position of the arm 10. When the user 2 operates each button of the operation means, the controller 15 controls the walking support device 1, the supporter 3, and the arm 10.
[0014]
The operation of the walking assistance device thus configured will be described with reference to the processing flow of FIG. When the user 2 selects the standing button among the operation buttons 21, the controller 15 controls the brakes 13a and 13b to brake the driving wheels 5a and 5b. Then, the arm 10 is moved to a predetermined position so that the knee pad 9 hits the knee of the user 2, and the position is fixed at that position (step 100).
[0015]
When the knee pad 9 hits the knee of the user 2, the user 2 grasps the supporter 3 and stands up (step 101). At this time, the controller 15 measures the force by which the knee of the user 2 pushes the knee pad 9 with a force sensor built into the knee pad 9. When the user 2 stands up, there is no need to support the knee of the user 2 with the knee pad 9. When the user 2 stands up, the force acting on the knee pad 9 decreases. Therefore, when the force acting on the knee pad falls below a predetermined value, it is determined that the user 2 has risen, the position of the arm 10 is released, and the arm 10 is moved to the predetermined position on the lifting / lowering means 4 side. . When reaching the predetermined position, the position of the arm 10 is fixed (step 102).
[0016]
FIG. 5 shows a state in which the arm 10 has moved to the lifting / lowering means 4 side. Since the arm 10 is pivoted toward the lifting / lowering means 4, it is possible to prevent the arm 10 from hindering the walking of the user 2. For this reason, the user 2 can enter the inside of the supporter 3 immediately after standing up, and can walk by holding the supporter 3.
[0017]
The user 2 stands up and selects walking from the operation button 21 of the operation means 20. Then, the user grasps the supporter 3 and starts walking (step 103). At this time, the controller 15 controls the brakes 13a and 13b to release the braking of the drive wheels 5a and 5b. At the same time, the force applied from the user 2 to the force sensor built in the supporter 3 is measured. Then, in order to move the walking support device 1 in the direction in which the force acts, the driving motors 7a and 7b that drive the driving wheels 5a and 5b are controlled.
[0018]
When the user 2 stops at the place while walking, the user selects a stop button from the operation buttons 21 in the operation means 20. When the stop button is pressed, the controller 15 controls the brakes 13a, 13b to brake the drive wheels 5a, 5b. When the user 2 takes a short break on the spot, the user selects a break button among the operation buttons 21 (step 104). When the break button is pressed, the controller 15 controls the brakes 13a and 13b to brake the drive wheels 5a and 5b. Then, the arm 10 is moved to a predetermined position so that the user 2 is seated on the knee pad 9. Then, the position of the arm 10 is fixed at the predetermined position (step 105). When the knee pad 9 is moved to a position where the user 2 can sit, the user 2 can sit on the knee pad 9 and take a break (step 106).
[0019]
FIG. 6 shows a state where the user 2 is seated on the knee pad 9. When the user 2 is tired while walking and sits on the walking support device 1, the user 2 sits on the walking support device 1 backward. Thereby, the leg can be freely extended. In addition, standing work on the spot, for example, a washing surface can be performed. When walking after sitting, change the direction of travel after standing up. After the break, the user 2 stands up (step 107), and when walking further, selects the walking button among the operation buttons 21 (step 108). If no break is selected in step 104, the process also proceeds to step 108. When the walk button is selected, the process proceeds to step 102.
[0020]
The above is repeated while the walk button is selected in step 108. If the walk button is not selected in step 108, the controller 15 drives the brakes 13a and 13b to brake the drive wheels 5a and 5b. Thus, the process is completed. In the above operation, the position where the arm 10 moves is set in advance according to the user 2. However, the position of the knee pad 9 may be adjusted to the position of the user's knee using the arm operation button 23 in the operation means 20.
[0021]
According to the present embodiment, the pedestrian is assisted to stand up by using the knee rest, and the knee rest is moved to a position that does not hinder walking after standing up. Therefore, the user can stand and walk on his own will. In addition, since the user can sit on the lap while walking, the movable space distance of the user can be increased, and a wider living space can be obtained.
[0022]
In the present embodiment, the knee pad is cylindrical, but the shape of the knee pad is not limited to this, and may be a prismatic shape. In this case, by controlling the surface position of the prism, it is possible to cope with both knee rest and sitting. Further, although both knees of the user are supported by one knee pad, the left and right knees may be separately supported. Further, in the present embodiment, the user sits on the knee pad, but the present invention is not limited to sitting on the knee but may be any state in which the user can take a break. For example, the waist may be left on the knee pad.
[0023]
In addition, the said Example is an illustration and is not restrictive. All modifications that come within the true spirit and scope of the invention are included in the following claims.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the arm position is changed according to the operation from rising to walking, the rising and rising from the sitting state is reduced by reducing the burden on the elderly and the disabled with reduced physical function. The walking support device can support the walking operation after the walking. Thereby, the user can move independently in the living space according to his / her physical ability.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a walking support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the walking support device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front view of operating means used in the walking support device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view showing a processing flow in the walking support device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating a state of the walking support device shown in FIG. 1 during walking.
FIG. 6 is a side view for explaining a state of the walking support device shown in FIG. 5 when seated.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Walking support apparatus, 2 ... User, 3 ... Supporter, 4 ... Elevating means, 5a, 5b ... Drive wheels, 6a, 6b ... Transmission belt, 7a, 7b ... Drive motor, 8a, 8b ... Follower wheels, 9 ... Knee support, 10 arm, 11 expansion / contraction means, 12 turning means, 13a, 13b brake, 14a, 14b rotation sensor, 15 controller, 16 base plate, 20 operation means, 21 operation button, 22 ... supporter operation buttons, 23 ... arm operation buttons.

Claims (6)

In a walking assistance device having support means for supporting a user's body and moving means for assisting the user's walking, a braking device for braking the moving means, an arm having a knee pad, and a length of the arm A walking support device, comprising: a variable expansion / contraction unit, a turning unit for turning the arm, and a control unit for controlling the expansion / contraction unit and the turning unit. The arm has force detecting means for detecting a force acting on the user's knee from the knee, and the control means controls the position of the arm according to the magnitude of the force detected by the force detecting means. The walking support device according to claim 1, wherein: The walking support device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit configured to change a length and a turning angle of the arm. The walking support device according to claim 3, wherein the control device positions the arm at the retreat position while the user is walking, based on a command from the operation means. The walking support device according to claim 3, wherein the control device moves the knee pad to a position where the user sits when the user stands up based on a command from the operation means. The walking support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the knee pad has a cylindrical shape.

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